Dispelling Error by Jetsun Drakpa Gyaltsen

Completion of a Three Year Cycle

During four days of glorious Dordogne sunshine in early August, in the elegant surroundings of Dhagpo Kagyu Ling’s Institute, Lama Jampa completed a three year cycle of teaching on the great Sakya text ‘Dispelling Error’ by Jetsun Drakpa Gyaltsen.

Explaining the Text Line by Line

This detailed commentary on the fourteen root downfalls and nine branch downfalls of vajrayana is one of the greatest works of vajrayana scholarship from any of the Tibetan traditions. Lama Jampa explained the text line by line to an audience drawn principally from the Dhagpo and Dechen sanghas, including a number of monks and nuns from Le Bost temple in the Auvergne region of France.

What are Vajrayana Vows

This text helps practitioners of vajrayana to understand what the vajrayana vows are, at what time one receives the vows, the nature of each of the vows and how one can avoid transgressing them. As Lama Jampa stated, ‘In regard to the vajrayana, the door of entry is initiation, which is a ritual bestowed by a vajra master, in which there is a connection established between our ordinary body speech and mind and the enlightened body, speech and mind of a buddha.

The Purpose of Maintaining Vows

Once we have received initiation we can cultivate our body, speech and mind into the mandala of the body, speech and mind of a buddha through the practise of the sadhana. To do this we must uphold the vows according to those taken during initiation.’

Questions answered

Those who attended enjoyed the clarity the teaching brought to this often misunderstood aspect of buddha’s teaching and particularly appreciated the opportunity to ask questions to dispel their misunderstandings.